ROSWELL, Ga. – Karen Handel took a turn along the Senate campaign trail and came home Sept. 28 for a reception in her honor co-hosted by Bob Hagan and City Councilwoman Betty Price.

She came to Hagan’s house on Stroup Street to renew old ties and not incidentally to pick up a few checks. She and Price have been friends and allies for years.

“We are here because the leadership in our country needs Karen Handel,” Price said in welcoming her. “She has been successful in everything she takes on – whether it was Fulton County as chairman, or secretary of state where she got voter I.D. passed in this state. Her boldness and courage are well known.”

She said Georgia needs to hold the Republican line in the Senate to fight Obamacare, which she calls a “destructive policy” that would add $800 billion in new taxes.

“We are for affordable health care, that’s why I support [state Rep.] Tom Price’s bill that has in it portability and takes care of pre-existing conditions. What we can’t do is try to live with $17 trillion of debt,” Handel said.

She said she wants to see zero-based budgeting observed every 10 years to weed out the rust and the waste in federal government. For Handel, the devil has always been in the details, especially in the budgets.

The thing that separates her from the other six challengers in the race is that she knows that to fight Obamacare there must be something to replace it.

“We can’t just say no, we have to have a plan, one that won’t bankrupt the country,” she said.

She wants to campaign hard in north Georgia. She noted that 70 percent of the primary vote came from north of Interstate 20.

While several of her opponents hold House seats Washington, Handel said she is the only proven statewide candidate in the campaign.

“I’ve run statewide five times; they haven’t done it once,” she said.

She has a statewide cadre that will serve her campaign in November as well as in the primary.

Despite the troubles in Congress now, she said she is optimistic about this country. In no other country would she have been able to leave an abusive home at 17 and rise to the careers she has enjoyed in business and in politics.

“Only in America is this possible. I remember what Ronald Reagan said when he was president – the best years are ahead of us,” she said. “That has always inspired me, and I believe it is still true.”